While he did not reference any particular case, the questions follow a story by the Courier-Mail on Thursday that revealed details of a dangerous sexual offender – who had been deemed safe to live in paedophile housing in Wacol –being charged with sexually abusing a teenage girl and making child exploitation material in a house at the precinct.
The other topic raised this morning during Question Time was Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announcing details of a legacy summit where members of the public can put forward their ideas for how Queensland should be transformed as a result of the Olympic Games will be held next year.
The achievement of hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in our state was never about a few weeks of competition,” she said.
“It’s about the decades worth of investment leading up to then, and the decades that will follow, as Queensland steps onto the world stage like never before.”
Ms Palaszczuk said the state’s legacy committee, made up of a number of prominent Queenslanders of “all ages and from all walks of life” will ensure decisions made for the 2032 Games will have long-lasting benefits.
“But we want to ensure our games truly belong to all of us,” she said.
“A legacy summit to gather together 500 people to have further input on our Games will be held in Brisbane on March 22.
“These 500 will bring the feedback of their communities, giving thousands a say in this golden opportunity.”
An online survey will also open next week, with the Premier saying she “hoped to hear from everyone on your hopes and dreams for the Games”.
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Updates
And that's a wrap.
Queensland Parliament will rise today at 1pm and won't sit again until February 21, 2023.
It's also worth noting that 2023 is the year Parliament heads to Cairns for a regional sitting. The last time Parliament was temporarily moved was in 2019, when a regional sitting was held in Townsville.
The Cairns sittings are scheduled for May 9 to 11, which happens to be the same week the federal government will hand down its Budget. No stress.
That's it for the blog for the year. Thanks for tuning in!
Katter’s Australian Party MP Nick Dametto is up and his question is electorate specific, on the years-long drama to open-up a marine area through dredging and other measures including the construction of a seawall.
This is a highly niche topic but is enough of a pinch point in North Queensland that it has prompted election promises in the past.
For the uninitiated, works on the channel at Dungeness near Lucinda is about opening up all-tide marine access to and from Dungeness and Forrest Beach.
Doing so, supporters argue, will open the area up for marine tourism and is also needed for safety in case of an on-water emergency.
The work is largely being led by the Hinchinbrook Shire Council and they aren’t exactly made of money, so the government has been called in to provide funds.
But progress has been painfully slow because the project does involve disturbing mangroves, which triggers environmental safeguards.
In recent times the project stalled after the environment department asked for an additional study to be undertaken before a seawall can be constructed.
This was perceived as a roundabout way of the state government attempting to shut down the project because it was opposed to it.
But Premier Steven Miles, answering a request for an update, confirmed he had met as promised with the council and Mr Dametto on the issue.
He confirmed the state government would fund the cost of the additional study, estimated to cost between $300,000 to $400,000 and had asked the State Development Department to partner with council to get it all done.
It’s time for crossbench questions!
Greens MP Michael Berkman is up and he’s asked Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon about coal, using mining billionaire Clive Palmer as context.
“Last week the Land Court ruled that Clive Palmer's galilee coal mine should be rejected on human rights grounds because Queensland coal, wherever it has burned will make climate change worse. Does the minister accept that coal exported from Queensland will increase global emissions, worsen the climate crisis and harm flood and fire prone Queenslanders?”
The Land Court did indeed recommend the state government reject Mr Palmer’s Waratah Coal Mine.
“As a matter of law, I have decided I can take the emissions into principles of ecologically sustainable development for the environmental authority application, and in considering whether the applications are in the public interest on both the mining lease, and the environmental authority applications,” Land Court President Fleur Kingham said in her judgment.
“This case is about Queensland coal mined here in Queensland, and exported from Queensland to be burnt in power stations to generate electricity.
“Wherever the coal is burnt, the emissions will contribute to environmental harm, including in Queensland.”
Ms Scanlon says she won’t prejudice any decision set to be made by the government’s environment authority and the resources minister.
She goes on to talk about the government’s energy plan and its actions on climate change.
Police Minister Mark Ryan is in the spotlight today, and now Deputy Leader Jarrod Bleijie lobs a question on another matter which boiled over last week.
One of Mr Bleijie’s constituents Lou Lander publicly called for Mr Ryan to be sacked, after she said she raised multiple times concerns that Queensland Police were not taking her accusations of domestic violence seriously.
“Does he remember Lou’s case, and has the Minister contacted Lou since last week to apologise,” he asks.
He says he does remember the matter well, and says he also remembers “taking action”.
“I received clear advice charges had been laid, that court processes were underway, and I also last week expressed my apologies for the situation she found herself in,” he says.
Well, that last comment has sent a fire under the Opposition, with former leader Deb Frecklington on her feet calling a point of order saying she takes personal offence.
But Speaker Curtis Pitt rules that frivolous, and since she has already been warned this morning she’s booted from the chamber for an hour.
Back on his feet, Mr Ryan clarifies it was not her fault she “found herself in that situation”.
– Stephanie Bennett
The Opposition has switched gears.
Opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates has effectively asked Attorney-General and Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Minister Shannon Fentiman what she has to show after five years in portfolios designed to protect women.
The question is arguably bizarre because it unsurprisingly opens the door for Ms Fentiman to rattle of a washlist of laws proposed, introduced or passed and major inquires launched, completed and being implemented.
Earlier this week the Police Minister revealed the government was changing laws so the state would have the “longest child sex offender monitoring periods” in the nation.
Under the new laws the amount of time a first-time child sex offender is subject to police monitoring and reporting will double.
The monitoring period for first-time offenders will be increased to ten years up from five while repeat offenders will be tacked for 20 years.
The most serious child sex offenders will be monitored for life.
The Opposition now wants to know how the new laws “will keep children safe when the current regime is in tatters”.
Police Minister Mark Ryan said the new laws don’t apply to the sexual offenders housed at the Wacol precinct, as they are monitored under different pieces of legislation.
He does confirm security has been increased at the precinct.
Another question on the serious issue of Wacol for the Police Minister, and this time the Opposition wants Mark Ryan to answer whether he can assure how children are not brought onto the pedophile precinct at the centre.
He answers initially with some well-worn platitudes, saying “can I assure the member the (government) takes the safety of Queenslanders very seriously”.
“(On this issue) I immediately sought assurances from the Queensland Corrective Services commissioner that the matter would be thoroughly reviewed,” he said.
He also says he has been advised that “almost on a yearly basis” has been making “improvements to that precinct”.
– Stephanie Bennett
The Courier-Mail on Thursday revealed a dangerous sexual offender – who had been deemed safe to live in paedophile housing in Wacol – has been charged with sexually abusing a teenage girl and making child exploitation material in a house at the precinct.
Read the full story here
It’s the final Question Time of the year.
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli’s first question to the Premier is whether she is “confident in the security arrangements at the precinct housing pedophiles in Wacol”.
The Opposition will likely be asking for questions of this nature throughout the hour.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk attempts to bat away the question under reasons it would be subjudice to speak about a matter before the courts.
But Mr Crisafulli has not mentioned any particular case.
Ms Palaszczuk reiterates Police Minister Mark Ryan’s confirmation that two reviews are underway into an incident at Wacol where a dangerous sexual offender living in pedophile housing allegedly committed offences against a girl.
“This morning I’ve also spoken to my director-general who has spoken to the Corrective Services Commissioner to ensure that no stone is left unturned in relation to review and any recommendations that come out of that review,” she said.
Mr Crisafulli follows up with a question to Mr Ryan.
He asks if “the minister explain what obligation he has to inform Queenslanders about cuts to security and any breaches at the precinct housing pedophiles at Wacol”.
Mr Ryan confirms there have been no “cuts to security” and indeed more people have been hired since the Palaszczuk government was first elected.
He does not address the second portion of the question.
